As the pumpkin patch fades into a distant memory.....

Here is a collage of the last weekend. It was really great fun and was not so busy as the rest of the month. Lydia and I got to judge the animal costume party contest, the winners are on the right side of the picture and were adorable.



But alas! It is over.......Finally.......and forever!

It's almost Halloweeeeeeeeeeen!

It is only a few days until Halloween! Obviously, this my favorite "holiday", such an exciting time of the year, seasons changing, dressing up in costume, cider, candy corn, one last hurrah before winter sets in.

So this is what has happened the last few weeks: Relleke pumpkinfarm: The last two weekends have been crazy, as always, so busy, beautiful weather. We have made it through this far, so only one more weekend. This one won't be so bad (I hope), since it is right on halloween and everyone will have already gotten their pumpkins for jack-o-lanterns, and so the crowd will be smaller and should be a little more fun for us. I can hear my vacation calling me!!

Last Wed. mom and I went to Centralia and had lunch at a little Italian restaurant down town. There is a city museum there that we just happened to drive by on our way to lunch. Mom knew about it and so we stopped in. It was a fantastic city museum with all kinds of things that happened in the past history of Centralia, this small town in Illinois. Newspaper clippings, military memoriblia (from Centralia soldiers), photos, just amazing. I am going to go back with my camera as it is well worth it. Mom's high school picture was on the wall with her class, as well as uncle Bob and uncle John. There was also a picture of her in her cute little majorette outfit hanging on the wall. There was a clipping of uncle Ed's sweet shop (grandpa's brother) on it's last day open. I guess it was a popular hang out back in it's day. Very interesting!

Talked to Danielle. She is doing fine and we are going to stop and visit her too on our vacation, as well as Preston and Amanda.

Shelley called this week also. The baby is a boy!! We are all so happy everything is going well for her this time. Cary is estatic as he was the last Yandell male to carry on the family name.

Fast forward to yesterday, Oct. 26th. Preston is finally home from Afghanistan! It was so nice to talk to him, he sounded so tired. Said he had been on the move for 30 hours trying to get home. He called while Bill, mom and I were at Walmart, getting ready to leave. He talked to all of us. He told Bill that he felt the earthquake that happened in Pakistan and that it was hard to stand up. He was only 60 miles from the epicenter. Too scary. I told him I would call back Friday after he has rested up a bit.

So, yesterday we went out to lunch for chinese food and then I got mom a cell phone for her birthday which is next week. It took us a while to get it going, but she is set for a year now, got enough minutes to last until next October and we are all on speed dial.

So, WOW, I shouldn't have waited to long to catch up this little journal!
The chickens are doing something weird,,,gotta go!

My Celtic heritage

About 5 years ago Preson and Danie sent me a wonderful Christmas present. It was the McKelvey coat-of-arms and a history of my maiden name. I thought it was very interesting and since nothing exciting happened today I thought I would put it here for posterity.

First, here is my Coat-of-arms:



McKelvey

Family Name history

The Scottish surname McKelvey is patronymic in origin, belonging to that group of surnames derived from the forename of the original bearer’s father. In this case the surname comes from the old Gaelic forename Sealbhach (pronounced “Shelvey”) and comes from the phrase “Mac Shealbhaigh”, meaning “son of Sealbhach”. The prefix “Mac” is followed by the genitive case of the forename and causes the initial “S” to undergo mutation to “Sh”. The letters “sh” are not pronounced in the Gaelic tongue, thus name is elided to “Mac ‘ealbhaigh’ which came to be Anglicized to McKelvey. The McKelvey’s are in fact a branch of the Clan Campbell who appeared in Argyll in the year 404 and who became Dukes of Argyll in the later Middle Ages ; the McKelvey bear the Campbell arms which are illustrated above. The McKelveys owned lands in Dumfriesshire and the earliest documentation of the name dates back to the year 1296 when one Morice MacSalny (sic) paid homage to the Scottish King. Morice had a son who is said to have been a hostage in Galloway and he is noted in 1300 as Mathew Make Salvi. The surname was also born by a hero of Scottish folklore; McDougall’s “Folktales and Fairy Lore” is recorded the story of “Sealbhach mac Shealbhaigh” (in other words , Shelvey McKelvey) and the Balieveolan Glassrig. The surname is also found in northern Ireland as a result of the constant traffic and inter-relations Ulster and Scotland In the middle ages. In the County Donegal there is a surname MacKelvy which is native to Ireland, and which is derived from the Irish Gaelic “Mac Giolla Bhuidhe” “Son of the lad with the yellow hair”. It is possible that the surname McKelvey is in some cases a variant of this, as are MacElwee, MacCalvey, MacGilvie and Mac Galloway.

Blazen of arms: Gyronny of eight or an sable
Crest: A boar’s head coupled or
Motto: Ne obliviscaris
Translation: Do not forget

Origin: Scotland

I need to go find the clan plaid, as different clans were identified by the plaid colors they wore. I am getting a new Renaissance costume which is Celtic, so that when we attend the Renn-faires I will be showing my true heritage.

Relleke Part 2

Today we finished the second week end at Relleke. It was very, very busy and we did really well financially, as always. It is just so tiring though.

We came home and went straight to Denny's for some real food. I don't think there is a food group for corndogs and curly fries, unless it is a "do not eat" group.

We got home about 9:30 and I went to the coop to make sure everyone was accounted for. Uh-oh, I was missing a chicken. Bill came out to the coop and was using the flashlight, looking under chickens, behind chickens...only 19. He went outside and there was one of the new chicks (chicks isn't the right word now, they are 3/4 grown), anyway, there was the little blonde one up in a tree asleep! We just left here there. Hope she's there in the morning.

MISSING!

HAVE YOU SEEN THIS CHICKEN?

Red Ethel Cash

Today we were trying to decide where to go in vacation. The Louisiana Rennfaire has sent out emails stating that there are very few hotels available in the entire Gulf coast area due to hurricanes Katrina and Rita. Lots of the hotels are full of evacuees that fled the area and are still there. We have decided to go elsewhere, even though we would like to put our tourist dollars into this area, I think it will just have to wait.

I got on the internet and started looking up Rennfaires for different states. There is a Pirate festivel in Clear Water, FLA. Well, this just sounds like such fun. On their website there was a test you could take to figure out your pirate name....Mine is.......
Red Ethel Cash.. I thought this was fun, so here is a link so that you too can find out what your Pirate name is, just in case it ever comes up in conversation!

Your pirate name

And the great pumpkin adventure begins

Yesterday and today we were once again at Relleke's Pumpkinfest. Attending were the usual suspects, food vendors, crafters, clowns, camels, and of course, little one's running around with their faces painted. It was a beautiful day. The crowd was a little smaller than usual both days. We were told there were so many other festivals going on in the St. Louis area that it was taking away from our crowd. I not complaining, we still did very well. Sunday Lyd worked with us. We had lots of fun with her. Bill was telling us a story about a guy that called him BOB for about two years, but eventually someone must have told said guy that Bob's name was Bill. Anyway, Bill was telling us this story, so all day we called him BOB. "Bob, I need 3 orders of curly fries"...Bob, you are so funny"....he kept threatening us, but we were not afeared. It made the day go a little faster. Had the few weirdos asking for strange things, like plastic cups to put curly fries in because her kids would fight if they were just all on one plate. Sounds like a parenting problem to me...we did not do it. Some guy waning to know how much sugar we put in the shake ups and how many cups is 16 ounces? Did these people not go to school? Duh!

One week end down...........4 to go!

The Legend of Enos W. Taylor

It was a beautiful day today and so I decided to take a walk in the cemetery...what?.....well, because "In My Head Everyday Is Halloween" and besides it's close to my house and has nice little paths to follow. So I am walking along in the morning sunshine and I see a grave with a confederate flag. Then I remembered what the story was and was thinking about the story of this confederate soldier and why he is buried here in Yankee territory.


The story is writtin right on his tombstone, but the part I remember was that he was thrown off the train, dead and somebody just threw him in an open grave with his boots up and threw some dirt on him. Not a very respectful way to treat a human being, but this was a time of war and hate.


Poor Enos W. Taylor was only 19 years old and died for what he believed in. The other part of the story is that there were hundreds of people that attended the funeral for Enos, none of them knew him, but honored his memory. I don't know why Mr. Eagan decided to do this kind and respectful thing for this unknown soldier, but there were fresh flowers there today on this Monday in September. A life remembered from a time when our country was divided and hundreds of thousands died on the soil they called home.


I wonder if the family of Enos Taylor ever knew what happened to him, their young son who went off to war and never came home.

"Some people don't have enough sense to come in out of the rain"

Today Bill and I went for a walk in the rain that Rita brought to us. It was a slow, cool rain and we even needed JACKETS!...We walked for a long time, Bill Olden drove by with his grand daughter and mocked us for running around out in the rain. We told him to just move on...(loser...)ha ha.

I bought a pedometer this week. I thought it would give me a little more incentive to get walking everyday. When we got back from our walk we had only walked one mile and only burned 130 calories......Sheesh...now I'm afraid to eat an M&M...even a blue one.!

How many days until halloween?

Good bye Rita you bad girl...

Once again we have been hit by a hurricane on the gulf coastal area. This time is was Rita. However, Rita was not nearly as bad as Katrina as far as death and destruction. Rita will be raining on Louisiana and Texas for many days. The levee broke again in New Orleans and so there is some flooding, but not like before, at least not yet.


I have enjoyed this past week. Mostly just relaxing, getting ready for the pumpkinfest, making home baked bread and cooking for Bill. He is tired of living on Cheetos and Ice Cream...seriously! So now I am back to cooking.

Preston called Wednesday morning from Afghanistan. It was so wonderful to hear his voice. He should be home sometime around Halloween....how appropriate! Amanda has everything settled with the ex-husband, papers are signed and all is well in Phillips-land. Just have to get that boy of mine home safe and sound.

Thursday Shelley called. She and Cary are buying a house. She was very excited and happy. It will be so nice for them to have a place of their own, what with the new baby and all.

Went to mom's Thursday. Went for chinese food then to the craft store. Just had a great time. We bought birthday cards for Kim and Kent and filled them with confetti. They probably won't think it's funny............but WE will!!!

Bill and I spent the afternoon at the Ingram's Log Cabin Village. It was really hot, but we had a good time. We saw some old friends and listened to bluegrass music.

When I went to close the chicken coop tonight, I got my head in a spider web.....ewwwwwww! The chickens probably wondered what kind of human noise that was when I yelped! Gawd, I hate spiders!

Mom and I saw a funny sign .......you know how people say..."This too shall pass"?........This one was in the Halloween section and it said....."Thou too shall pass"...mom and I just cracked up!!! Guess we are pretty warped....MOM, you were here first, must be your fault! *hugs*

Help I am blogless

Well, I was going to catch up my blog, but it wouldn't let me in, so I am just trying to see if this will get posted...

Larry the Cable Guy for president

So I have been off work for one day...one day, mind you and so I spent much time on the internet today, got all caught up on emails, blogs, etc. It is 9:20 and "Rescue Me" is on the FX channel, and Bill has gone to bed. So I am bored. I could go to sleep, but, don't really need to, don't have to get up for anything in particular in the morning. This lovely blogger thingy has a "next blog" button, how interesting other people are and what wonderful writings they put on their blogs. Mine seems so bla.........anyway, I came across this guy's blog, some guy named Steve....

and he had an intersting idea....



Larry the Cable Guy for President!

Think I am crazy?

Considering what has happened in New Orleans...

Why not have a President who is known for the slogan...

"Git-r-done"

????

Sounds like a refreshing new approach to Government, from where I sit...

-Steve

So I have to steal from other people's blogs to make mine intersting..... :-)

I'm outta here........

This was the last day at the ice cream shoppe....and

I'M OUTTA HERE.....

Alana and Ashley

Only one more day and I will be free of the ice cream shoppe until April. Alana and Ashley stopped by to see me, I happened to have my camera and since they both used to work for me just have to get a "mug" shot, they are both always so funny and were fun to work with...

Labor Day in the Park

Today was Labor day and Kinmundy had it's usual Labor day celebration in the park. It was a beautiful day and there was a crowd in the park like I have never seen before. Everyone seemed to be having a grand time...well, WE were working, and working hard in the concession trailer. Lydia worked for us and it was our first with her at the window, she did a great job though. Before things really got started Lyd ( I call her Lyd, ha ha) and I walked around the car show. Here is my favorite entry. There were so many cars they actually had to park them outside the designated area.


There were lots of things for the kids. This is empty now because it was early, but there were kids being flung all day....and long lines waiting to be flung..lol.

Here is just a little group that I had time to take a picture of. Kent took some more pictures for me later, since he came to visit for a few minutes.

There was an endless line at our little trailer, I did so many shake ups I think I got "shake-up shoulder"....about 300 or so in 5 hours, so I was very busy just doing that all day!! Mom was relaxing with a shake up guarding the back window!


And for about 5 minutes Lyd and I sat down outside the trailer, we look pretty leisurely, don't we...?

It was a very profitable day and we were very tired, I hope we didn't scare Lyd away from working the pumpking farm.....

Tomorrow is only a day away.....

Things are better on the gulf coast areas. Most everyone has been rescued and are in shelters, or have moved on to other locations with family or friends. Still no count on how many deaths Katrina has caused though, so all media are cautiously optimistic. The El presidente is taking much flack for the lack of guidance in this horrible disaster. It is now time for the blame game, but I will not play, either way everything was screwed up until the military arrived. They know how to do things, they know the chain of command, no waiting for decisions from too many chefs cooking the soup. So, the levee is now repaired temporarily and the water is draining back into lake Pontchartrain and on into the Gulf of Mexico. New orleans is being drained like a bathtub on Saturday night....go figure...only in America (or Norway or other Dutch countries with dikes)...still the reporters focus on it constantly....but that's ok, we want to know.

Only on more week and I will be closed for the season, I love owning my own ice cream shoppe, but am ready for it to be over....I want to feel human again, I want to paint my nails, wear jewelry and ankle bracelets, lay on the couch and watch tv, go out to dinner....ah, my list is endless, but this post is not.....THE END

Hurricane Katrina

It is Tuesday, 3 days after hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf of Mexico, destroying, New Orleans (by way of flood), Gulfport and Biloxi, MS. These ocean front cities have been obliterated by the storm. The levees broke in New Orleans and 80% of the city is underwater. People are stranded..in their homes, on roof tops, in places unknown. There is no communication, no fresh water, no food, no electricity, nothing. Absolutely, nothing. Everyone is in shock and those of us in other parts of the country are saddened beyond words.

Gulfport is our favorite vacation spot. We have been there 3 times and were planning on returning this fall. Now it is completely wiped out. Our little hotel with the view of the ocean, the little seaside restaurants, seaworld, and it's museum, the shrimp boat trips, the casinos and most important the beautiful beach and pier that we couldn't wait to get to when we were working so hard at the pumpkin farm, have all disappeared, unrecognizable now. I remember driving, getting out of the car and literally running down the pier to the benches at the end, sitting down with Bill in the evening fog and just breathing a sigh of happiness at being there. A moment I will never forget!

Here is one of my favorite pictures. This was taken with me standing by the ocean and facing the city lights of the casinos, restaurants, night clubs and hotels lining the beach. Such a beautiful sight! Now , all gone. I will keep this picture in my mind and remember when it was still beautiful.


I know that everyone is feeling this sorrow, both in the gulf and all around our country.

I just had to get my feelings out.

Everything here is fine. All family members are well. I wish Preston could come home, but I will just have to be patient until he does. I sent him a box of goodies from me and mom to let him know we are thinking about him. Amanda has kept us posted on things and she is doing fine too!

Things are winding down at the ice cream shoppe, only 10 more days. Then off to Relleke Pumpkin farm in October. Then onto vacation....wherever it may lead us....who knows now.

I will try to think happy thoughts, but it is difficult right now.

Cellmate reunion and Clay Concert

August 18th was the Clay Aiken concert in Indianapolia, IN. Bill took mom and I and we spent the day at the fair. It was very humid. A storm was brewing just north of us all day, so it was very miserable. Still we had a great time. First we looked at things around the fair, like the prize winning chickens....


The Midway.......

and interesting places to eat......


Soon we got a call from Doris. We were to meet with many of our friends from the Clayboard that we have been posting to for the last 2 years. We were very excited to meet them. Here is a picture of the first group, the Cellmates Unplugged thread on the Clayboard...

and the original Cellmates which are now on the "Sistah's of the traveling pants" thread..


Then onto the concert which was a fantastic mixture of "Jukebox" hits from the 50's, 60's, 70's 80's, 90's and present. Clay was fantastic and did a "killer" Elvis and Jerry Lee Lewis. What can I say, the man can sing anything. His Livin' La Vida Loca was to die for. All of the dancing he did was something new, but we always knew he had it in him.

And, of course, the star of the show...and the reason we were all there..........

Dear Bloggery....

Dear Bloggery,
I have neglected you to no end!....Here is the lastest!
It seems that I am going to be a grandma two times:
Preston and Amanda are expecting in April,
Shelley and Cary are expecting in March!!
Everything is going well for both of them.
Last Thursday Bessie Holsapple passed away at the age of 96. I went to the visitation with mom. Shelley and Darren were there too. It was nice to see them, even under these circumstances.
Bill had his 47th birthday on August 1st.
August 7th we had a Luau at the ice cream shoppe. It was fun, but was kind of a slow day for some reason. However, in the end it was very profitable. I got some great pix too!
In a nut shell, that is about it.
Here are a few pix from the Luau.









And the most outrageous costume...for which he was awarded the "Bravery Award"....I present you with Tim!

I'm singing....does anybody know what time it is...

Good Morning World!!

I have neglected my blog....and I am sorry for all of you who wait with anticipation the events of my daily life....lol!! Fear not, here I am!

The last few weeks have flown by. I have not heard from Preston or Amanda, although I am keeping up with their blog. So it seems he is doing fine, considering and so is Amanda.

I have spent the last two Saturdays with mom, out to lunch, and visiting. I need to catch up with Teresa, gosh it has been quite a spell since I have heard from her.

The time is ticking away and there are only 5 weeks left until the ice cream shoppe closes. Truthfully I am ready, well, I am always just tired by now. I am such a pansy, I only work 6 months a year and I can't take it...lol.

Mom and I are getting ready to go to the Clay Aiken concert in Indianapolis, IN on August. 18th. It is the Jukebox tour and he does music from the entire rock era, from the bootlegged videos I have seen it will be spectacular. Also we are meeting many of our online friends that day too, something fun to look forward to.

Tomorrow is Bill's birthday, so I fixed a nice dinner last night. Happy Birthday, honey!!

Soooooo, you see why I have not posted on here because NOTHING is happening right now! Next Sunday we are having a LUAU at the ice cream shoppe so that should be fun and break the boredom of August! So, look for pix in the next few weeks!

and the saga continues

So much has happened since I posted about the crappy catsup bottle festival....

Preston was sent back to the Iraq area, but is in Afghanistan now. I have been very sad and worried as before. He called and left me a sweet message and told me he loved me very much,s o it made me feel better. I still haven't erased it, I just listen to it once in a while, it makes me feel better. I haven't talked to Amanda, but have read their blog, so I know Preston made it over there ok and says the living quarters arent' too bad. Alot better than the first time? Huh, Preston. Hugs...

I spent last Saturday with mom. We visited with Uncle Bob and Aunt Betty for a while. They seem to be doing ok, considering. Anyway, it is always fun to be with mom. Hugs to mom.

This past week has flown by. It has been near or at 100 degrees for the last week. I am so glad I have air conditioning. Bill sold lemonade on the streets of Kinmundy again this week. Made about $235.00. Isn't that unbelievable? I think he kind of likes visiting with the towns people. Plus he makes a mean lemon shake-up! He ought to, I taught him myself....now he takes all of the credit.

I am getting excited about the Clay Aiken concert on August 18th. I am looking forward to meeting alot of the people that mom and I have met online that are going to be there, how fun!

Today Egypt had terrorist bombings in a motel that is frequented by Westerners. Why do people want to do these things, it is very disturbing. Sometimes I think our world is just a mess and that there are more crazies than normal people....that's sad.

That's all I got...

The Catsup Bottle Festival

The Catsup Bottle festival was today at Collinsville. It was 110 degrees in the trailer and we worked very hard. We made some pretty good money, but the festival itself was lack-luster. It seemed like everyone was just going through the motions of having an event. In the past it was always fun and exciting and there was music playing and things happening. This time there was very little to be festive about. The other vendors felt the same way. It was just really too hot to be outside in the sun. The Travel Channel was there to do a piece on the festival. They didn't interview us, even though they called earlier in the week to say they would. Instead they only went to two food vendors, one was doing frogs legs and Alaskian bluegill and the other one was doing deep fried oreos, so I guess corndogs and curly fries was too boring for them...lol! Anyway, we were about sick from the heat at the end of the day and I was never so glad to get home to the air conditioning. I will ever so happy to get back to my little Air Conditioned ice cream shoppe!

Peep, Peep

Yesterday I went to feed the chickens and I saw a little beak and eyeball looking up at me from under Houdini (hen), I came in the house and woke up Bill and told him we had at least one chick. We went outside and saw 4. They are so cute. However, in the end there were 8 new chicks. Here is a picture of them, the little black one is posing for me.

Mom, I guess these are your new grand babies....ha ha...

A visit from the dimpled one and Mrs. Dimpled one

I finally got to meet Amanda today. Preston was home for just a couple of days and brought his new wife for us all to meet. We had a very nice time and loved meeting Amanda. Preston seems very happy and they look so cute together.
We went to Arby's for supper and met mom there, so she go to meet Amanda too. Amanda, so glad you make my boy so happy! Hugs to you both.
Preston had these funky sun glasses on, I told him he looked like "Gray", as in alien..ha ha.

Fun on the 4th of July

Today was the 4th of July. We didn't have to work. Bill got up early and went to Jake's house. He came back for me because he wanted to show me these adorable baby chicks. They were so funny, jumping up and down trying to fly, cheeping all of the time. I hope our chicks are born soon, it will be such fun to watch them grow. We came back home and had coffee and watched tv. Pretty soon we got bored, made some sandwichs and headed for Carlyle lake. It was just wonderful to sit in the warm breeze and eat lunch, watching the crowds of people and little kids play in the water. It was a warm sunny day..........for a while. We laughed and had a great time. For once we were having fun while everyone else was instead of working. Pretty soon a storm started brewing, first there were just a few clouds, then a huge shelf cloud appeared. It was really impressive and had some circulation going on with it. The stupid people in boats on the water waited until it was too late to get their boats out of the water. If you look at the last picture (with purple martin houses), you can see the boats and the huge storm clouds closing in on them. About 1 second after I took that picture it started to storm, lightning and all. So Bill and I went to the visitor's center across from the lake. It was very interesting. Carlyle Lake is named after a famous English author, Sir Carlyle, since the first settlers in the area were mostly English. We ended up the day with dinner at McDonalds ( the hamburgers were really crappy....:P, but the apple, grape and walnut salad with yogurt was delicious, just lots of chewing though. It kept raining after we got home, so we just decided to stay in and watch the fireworks on tv from the St. Louis Fair. So that was my day and I enjoyed it so much...tomorrow........back to work. Here are a few pictures from today,












I meant to leave this picture larger , but rather than delete it from above, I will just repost it. The cloud formation is just amazing.